Gophers lose a tough one to a top 10 Cal Bears team

This is probably the most complete, most honest write-up that I will see from the “media.” The Star-Trib will point out how good best was an how slow our defensive line is and how we can’t block and didn’t belong on the same field with Cal.
KFAN will point out that this kind of play will never get us to the Rose Bowl so they can forget reporting on the Gophers the rest of the year.
The Pioneer-Press will be more honest but will not stack up to your article.
Ruesse will eat steak, let out the seam in pants again and mumble
“Gophers? Who? They don’t deserve such a grand stadium.”
So I thank you for writing a piece that says exactly how I viewed the game and those “tough” Gophers who hopefully can go farther than many of us thought before the season started.
GO GOPHERS!

Your team had us (fans, at least) scared. Weber to Decker was killing us and you had our run game stifled for a stretch. Cal fanatics might scream bloody murder for not using Best more, but I think the coaches recognized that we weren’t going to get as much as we wanted to out of the running game.

The other thing you failed to mention was that false start penalty on Cal in the 4th quarter. We get the sack and force the punt but Cal’s own penalty keeps the drive alive. They hit the big pass play and drive down to score. I would have loved to see how the game turns out if they punt there.

that ends well…in this case be came up a bit short. I am proud of our team. They played well and made some youthful mistakes and turnovers. Decker showed his colors….this kid is a legit NFL receiver…but for his healths sake I hope he signs with the Twins after the season. Congrats to CAL they are now the team to beat in the Pac 10….everyone gets knocked down…its how you get up and keep going which is important.

FIrst off, congrats to the Gophers for a really strong effort. I knew this would be a tough game, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. Your D was fast and strong and definitely took Cal out of rhythm after the first qtr and a half.

I was really sorry to see your receiver get dinged up. Especially after a clutch catch and on what seemed like a really innocent play. Hopefully the sprain isn’t too serious and he gets back for the conference season.

All in all it was a pretty enjoyable, close, and well-played game. I know the loss is hard (trust me, as a long-suffering Cal fan, I know about touch losses), but you should definitely be proud of your team and pretty excited about your future.

Good luck on the rest of you season — I’ll be rooting for you.

Go Bears!

I really like your “moving in the right direction” quote, I think that’s a great way to put it, seems to be the tone of many of the comments here too. They definitely look better than last year’s team. My only worry is Decker, and not only because of the injury today (anyone know how he is by the way? will he miss any games?). It’s been said before but they look like a completely different team without him – even the ESPN announcer joked about Weber looking for Decker on that last series, and he was right, that’s really what it looked like. Here’s hoping he stays healthy, and/or that Weber can develop some kind of swagger without him on the field.

Traveled out from CA for the game, and MAN was it a good one. You guys are a tough team, and Decker is the man – straight up, that guy is the real deal. Never seen him play before – scary dude. Defense was stiff – we Cal fans were very worried, and that false-start penalty saved the game for us. I agree with GopherNation, you guys should be very proud, it was a really good game!

Outside the lines:

 - Your stadium is gorgeous. Don’t listen to the critics, your team is certainly deserving of its new home. Loved the design, and not a bad seat in the house. That jumbotron is… well, jumbo!

- Your band’s pregame show was fabulous. Someone here on the blog said to be sure to check it out, and it was totally worth it – great stuff!

 - Your fans are cool, and super-nice. Every fan I met, whether in the hotel, at the game, or at a bar, was good-natured and friendly, whether old or young. Talked and laughed with them – a great atmosphere all-around. During the game, the fans were really spirited, and I was impressed with how they really came out in force. We definitely get people in the seats in Berkeley, but we could use some more of that rabid spirit I was feeling from you guys.

 - Your city… oh my goodness. Minneapolis is awesome. Only got to see the downtown area, but man! Beautiful downtown skyline. Saw the mighty Mississippi River for the first time. Seven Corners was a fun area – dinner at the Town Hall Brewery, good times at Preston’s, and the mac&cheese at Grumpy’s was really really good. 8am breakfast at Maxwell’s was also fun! Sadly, I didn’t get to go to Matt’s Bar for a Juicy Lucy, but I’m having breakfast at Keys Cafe in the morning, which I’m told is quite good.

And then there was the Guthrie. Oh. My. Lord. The Guthrie was awe-inspiring. My hotel is literally right around the corner, and I caught a show this evening. I knew that the Guthrie was one of the great theatres in this country (I’m an actor by trade), so I was excited to check it out(though i didn’t know if I’d have time). The building itself is gorgeous on the outside, and the facilities inside are simply the best I have ever seen – I found myself just wandering the building afterward to try to take it all in. The show itself was top-notch with wonderful performances, of course – well worthy of the Guthrie’s reputation. I truly envy your having a world-class theatre in your own backyard, and I can only hope to dream of one day being part of a season at the Guthrie.

Ok, I’ve gone on way longer than I should have – anyway, thanks for having an awesome city, and thanks for the awesome weekend!

Marcus Sherels is hurt from what I understand. Carter, Lewis or Watkins are all other options but Collado must be doing something in practice to elevate him to starter while Sherels is on the shelf. Sherels should be back for the NW game.

I thought the LB’s did a poor job of dropping back into coverage on that play…with the defense that was called the LB’s should have had the middle of the field from 15 yards in covered…but with their running game and speed the LBs cheated in for a split second opening the hole in the zone…thus the gain…if you have underneath coverage on that play you force it to a no pass/scramble or a dump off short to the safety valve for the QB.

…I agree with most of the sentiment here:

We need better RBs
Weber needs to know how to find other receivers better (although he marginally improved against Cal)
We need better OL play.
We need more depth in the secondary.

However, these are the things we need to be an ELITE team. I think right now, we are pretty good team that looks like it can compete with anyone—especially in the Big 10. It really is a shame that the Big 10 scheduling is so screwy, because we played AT Ohio State last year and have to again this year. I really would have liked to see our chances if we got the Buckeyes to come into our new house, which is apparently becoming quite the homefield advantage.

I think it is clear that Northwestern appears to be somewhat overrated. I am not scared of going into Evanston next week. It isn’t going to be easy, but I think the Cal game has prepared us well for the Big 10 season. I actually could see us beating Northwestern by double digits—even if Decker isn’t available.

Speaking of Decker, I would obviously prefer to have him out there. That guy proved on a national stage yesterday that he is the real deal. Can we start talking Heisman here? At least some consideration? The toughness he shows embodies exactly what the Hesiman is all about to go along with his performance. I did not watch the game, but heard about the details through others, including right here. I have the game recorded and will watch it sometime this week. Was that pass play to Gray shown on the highlight shows throughout the country (i.e. GameDay et al)?

Furthermore, if Decker is out next week, do you think that this could actually HELP the team? It will force Weber to establish rapport with other receivers who we think have a lot of talent such as Green (who has been consistently involved to a degree in every game so far), Carpenter, Stoudermire, Green, and Pittman? Even if it is just a game (which hopefully wouldn’t be any more than that at most) I think it could help.

All in all, the local media will talk about how we haven’t proved anything, there is no such thing as moral victories, blah, blah, blah. But talk like that proves they are myopic. I totally disagree with the notion that progress should be measured by wins and losses. That is for bandwagon fans. I think everyone has witnessed real progress in the program. Wins and losses are the final things to happen—but you need to build up to that. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it seems to be clear that it is happening.

I totally disagree with the notion that progress should be measured by wins and losses. That is for bandwagon fans. I think everyone has witnessed real progress in the program. Wins and losses are the final things to happen—but you need to build up to that. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it seems to be clear that it is happening.

I agree with you but there will hopefully come a time where seeing progress won’t be good enough. We are not there yet but where this program is and has been; this was progress yesterday.

I made the trip out and I have nothing but good things to say.

- First of all the Mall of America is amazing. Just wanted to say that.
- And I love how you guys have a minimum speed limit.
- Your stadium is awesome. Loved the seats. I suffered a lower back injury a couple of weeks ago and I was worried that I’d screw it up worse by sitting on those benches. Gotta say I didn’t feel a bit of pain. This probably has nothing to do with those benches but I just wanted to say it.
- Your fans are VERY NICE and gracious, even in defeat. Hell even when I was taunting a Gopher fan I didn’t feel a single bit of anger. It was all in good fun.
- I loved the fact that random strangers engaged me on the game when they saw my Cal t-shirt. They were all nice.
- Can you please hand over Decker to the 49ers? Screw Crabtree.
- But first please tell Weber not to kill Decker. For a second I thought he was near dead after our safety, Cattouse, leveled him. Incredible of him to come back from that hit though.
- Your defense did an amazing job in the second half. You really bottled down Best (though we were idiotic with running Best up the middle).
- After you guys tied it up I went “oh f*** here we go again”. I started imagining the headlines on ESPN. Glad we won.
- Maybe if you guys had a grass field you could’ve pulled it off.
- Nice scoreboard.
- I was stumbling about after the game trying to find a taxi and I stumbled upon your campus. Wow it is beautiful. Some of the frat guys gave me thumbs up. I was surprised.
- I took a photo of your Electrical Engineering & Comp Sci building. I was an EECS major at Cal (graduated a few months ago actually) and you’re building is so much better than 1 of our EECS one (Cory Hall – the EE part) and from outside looks a little better than our CS building. I wonder how the inside is?
- On your Minnesota spell out chant (which by the way helped me learn how to spell Minnesota – I always thing there are two s) do you guys say “Sota” or “Minnesota”? It sounded like the former.

Great games and thanks for having us!